Striking Vadodara doctors begin relay hunger strike

Vadodara, May 24 (UNI) Striking resident and intern doctors of the city's premier SSG civil hospital today further intensified their agitation by going on a relay hunger strike to protest the Centre's OBC reservation policy.

As many as 400 resident doctors of the SSG hospital and Baroda Medical College here went on an indefinite strike since yesterday to express their solidarity with other striking medicos across the country. Besides the resident doctors, nearly 300 interns were already on strike since Sunday.

Denying that the junior doctors' strike had a serious impact on the health services in the hospital so far, SSG hopital in-charge superintendent Dr Rajiv Daveshwar said they had already deputed 35 doctors from the Baroda Medical College and were expecting to get another 50 doctors, laboratory and x-ray technicians soon from different CHCs and PHCs across the district, to maintain medical services.

Criticising the Government's reported decision to move a legislation in the coming monsoon session on the controversial 27 per cent reservation for OBC in central educational institutions, Vadodara Junior Doctors' Association (JDA) president Dhiren Thakkar threatened that the anti-quota stir by medicos would be further intensified, if the Government remained adamant on its stand.

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